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Kopassus troops face military court for prison attack

George RobertsUpdated
Thu 20 Jun 2013, 1:44 PM AEST

A dozen members of Indonesia's elite special forces are to face a military court in Java this morning for raiding a prison and executing four inmates. Human rights experts have denounced the trial as 'staged' and an attempt to protect the military top brass. On the eve of the case, the Human Rights Commission also concluded a separate investigation, which casts doubt on the way the military handles problems.

Transcript

TANYA NOLAN: A dozen members of Indonesia's elite special forces are to face a military court in Java today, for raiding a prison and executing four inmates.

But already human rights experts have denounced the trial as "staged" and an attempt to protect the military's top brass.

On the eve of the case, the Human Rights Commission also concluded a separate investigation which casts doubt on the way the military handles problems.

Indonesia correspondent George Roberts reports from Yogyakarta.

(Crowd chanting)

GEORGE ROBERTS: At their induction ceremony...

(Chanting and slapping)

...elite Kopassus commandos display the solidarity that comes with being trained to kill.

But that very solidarity was used to excuse the early morning execution of four inmates the Cebongan Prison in Yogyakarta.

A human rights expert, Hendardi, doesn't accept that.

HENDARDI (translated): It's like shooting at a dead banana tree. They shot those who had no power to fight back, and I think this kind of misunderstanding needs to be fixed. They claim it's a spirit of solidarity; it's just their means of campaigning that what they did was justified.

GEORGE ROBERTS: The trial hasn't started, but the defence has. The four men killed in the raid were suspects in the murder of a Kopassus commando.

When soldiers confessed to the revenge attack, military bosses leapt to their defence, saying they were protecting the unit's honour and no human rights were violated.

But the head of the country's Human Rights Commission, Noor Laila, says that's wrong.

NOOR LAILA (translated): People just find it hard to distinguish between human rights violations and gross human rights violations. If a court finds the involvement of high ranking officials, laws for gross violations apply and we will continue or reopen the case.

GEORGE ROBERTS: Military investigators initial findings were that only low ranking soldiers were involved and they acted spontaneously.

The Human Rights Commission's own investigation, released yesterday, disputes that saying there's clear evidence of planning, in the coordination of soldiers and gathering weapons.

Noor Laila again.

NOOR LAILA (translated): There was also the appointment of people's roles in the attack - one was the commander, one was the executor, there was a timekeeper, a guard at the gate, etc. So they were job assigned.

GEORGE ROBERTS: Hendardi says low ranking soldiers don't have approval to take high-powered weapons from the barracks or the ability to coordinate an attack.

HENDARDI (translated): What they did is not just thuggery but it is barbaric and unjustifiable. So I think they need to be punished severely, and so too whoever gave the orders because they couldn't do it without orders.

GEORGE ROBERTS: He says the military tribunal is staged to avoid evidence against senior ranks that would've been explored in a civilian court.

HENDARDI (translated): It seems like they are also trying to show the public how this military tribunal is going to hold a fair trial. That is impossible. It's a fact that what happens in the military tribunal is never fair.

GEORGE ROBERTS: Once the men have been court martialled, they can't be retried for the same crime in another court.